European politics is shaken by a grave crisis, stemming from entirely trivial reasons: a decision must be made as to who, between the Orthodox monks protected by Russia and the Catholic monks supported by France, should hold the key to a church in Jerusalem and hang a Christmas star over the manger of a nativity scene. This pretext actually conceals the possibility of influencing the decadent Ottoman regime governing Jerusalem. It will soon lead to the largest amphibious landing ever seen at the time, with 60,000 Anglo-French troops brought to Russian soil.
